Hey are you going to be maid of honor at your friend’s wedding this time, that’s really great!! Congratulations!! To be a maid of honor is a big honor for anyone!! Who should be chosen as the maid of honor?
Traditionally, the bride’s sister or her closest female friend is chosen to be the maid of honor. And if sister or a friend is not available then the bride can choose someone she trusts to be the maid of honor, the one who she believes can help her during the wedding planning process. Well, while you choose your maid of honor, you need to consider the amount of responsibility the maid of honor will have and also make sure that they are able to meet your expectations. Choose someone who would be able to perform all the duties of maid of honor properly. As, maid of honor is a big honor.
Duties of maid of honor
Basically, a maid of honor will involve in the wedding planning process, she will plan the bachelorette party, will see the bridesmaids dresses are ordered timely, she will be the point of contact on the main event i.e., the wedding, she will give a speech at the reception, sending RSVPs, taking care of accommodation of wedding guests, hotel booking, blocking rooms, and so on so forth.
If you are a maid of honor this time, and you never served as one before, and you are not even sure of the duties of maid of honor. Then this article is meant for you. Just scroll down the list and you will know what all you need to do in your sister’s or best friend’s wedding as the maid of honor. Here we go…
Maid of Honor Duties before the Wedding Day
1. Helping brides in the wedding planning process
Your friend’s or sister’s wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and she will need you in almost all the preparations related to her wedding, from choosing their wedding outfit to helping them sending wedding invitations. Though, some brides are still able to manage all the pre-wedding processions, however, some maybe because of lack of time or because of utter nervousness seek help in everything from maid of honor. It basically depends and vary bride to bride. Whatever the case maybe, maid of honor has to be available for the bride that is why she has been dedicated with such a big task. Be available for the bride in all her wedding preparations and assist her (if asked) or just listen to her ideas and give advice or suggestions. That’s all!
2. Attend bridal outfit shopping and fittings
Bridal outfit is very crucial outfit for any bride, perhaps she may not ask you to accompany her in her wedding dress shopping. But you make sure that you attend her wedding dress shopping and her dress fittings. She will love to have you beside her. As, sometimes it becomes difficult to choose the right dress alone or with family members. You being the same age group will be able to help her better in her outfit shopping.
3. Lead the bridal party
You will be the point of contact. For anything related to bridesmaid people will come to you only. So, you will have to take care of the bridal party or bridesmaid as well. You can start with an email and leading the mail trail where all the discussions related to wedding happen.
4. Point of contact for guests
Besides bridal party, you will also be the point of contact for the wedding guests. Wedding guests will have so many questions related to the wedding venue, wedding registration, about the post wedding brunch, reception etc., etc. However, almost all the information will be given on the couple’s wedding website, but not all the guests will be computer savvy. You being a maid of honor, it will be your duty to help all the guests with answers and other information related to wedding.
5. Assist bride in choosing bridesmaid dresses
As the maid of honor you will also assist the bride in choosing the bridesmaid dresses and also making sure that all their dresses and accessories are ordered on time. Besides, confirming hair and makeup appointments, making all the required travel and accommodation arrangements for the bridal party, seeing that their dresses reach on time and many more.
6. Host the bridal shower
One of the most important duties of maid of honor is to host the bridal shower. Also, make sure you take help from bridesmaids. Bridal shower is a task, you will need to take care of almost everything during that, from selecting a venue to finalizing the venue décor, sending invites to food arrangements; hence, you will need help from bridesmaid. Delegate responsibilities to the bridal party accordingly. Also, at the party, the maid of honor needs to keep a note of all the gifts received, so that the bride can extend thank-you notes easily.
7. Organizing the bachelorette party
The bachelorette party will be the only time for the bride to spend quality time with all her friends, and it is the duty of the maid of honor to plan a great bachelorette for the bride, which she will never forget. So, it is your duty to plan the party, keeping the taste, choice, preferences, and bride’s personality in mind to make the event most memorable for the bride.
8. Be present in all the pre-wedding events
However, you won’t be technically planning the pre-wedding events such as the engagement party, rehearsal, and rehearsal dinner. But your presence will be needed in almost all the pre-wedding events. Just be present and enjoy all the pre-wedding functions or events.
Maid of Honor Duties on the Wedding Day: Before the Ceremony
9. Get ready on time
Since, the day has come for which you all were planning, it is the time to get ready for the show! More often than not, the maid of honor gets ready with the bride and the bridesmaids in the bridal suite, Basically, your duties will be to help the bride get dressed and see if all the bridesmaids are ready, to help bridal party also in getting ready (if needed) , also making sure that everyone looks perfect in their outfits.
10. Manage between the couple
This is also very important duty of a maid of honor, where she has to manage between the couples. Maybe couple would want to exchange some love notes or gifts to each other. It is the duty of the maid of honor to hand the notes/gifts over to the groom, and then reporting back the details. All that she will do along with the best man.
11. Having a wedding vendors list handy
Basically, maid of honor has to look after everything on the day of the wedding. As, the bride’s need to be calm and stress free on her big day. However, these things are taken care of by the venue coordinator or the wedding planner. But in case of emergency you may also have to contact and communicate with the wedding vendors to see if everything is fine.
12. Keeping an emergency kit for the bride handy
You never know when some emergency will occur, hence it is essential that you prepare and keep and emergency kit handy. Maybe bride may need a safety pin or a Band-Aid, or a quick make-up touch up. So, make sure you prepare a wedding day emergency kit well in advance, the kit should have all that which may be required in case of any urgency.
13. Help keep things as scheduled
Make sure you have the event timeline before the wedding ceremony itself. Yes, it is crucial to have the wedding details, timeline and all the schedules, so make sure the bride or wedding planner provides you with a full wedding timeline! As you will need to keep things as scheduled. For instance, if bridesmaid are delaying things due to any reason, it is your duty to politely remind them of time and making sure that everybody is on time for the wedding.
14. Help bride stay calm
In a wedding, many things happen, even after planning everything correctly. For instance, wedding vendor delayed things, or may be the limo is late anything. Whatever, nothing should stress the bride on her big day. So, if you see bride getting stressed on anything, just calm her down. It is the most imperative duty of the maid of honor, to keep the bride’s mood light. Do things which she will feel good about, maybe play some good music, tell some funny story, or play some funny video etc.
Maid of Honor Duties on the Wedding Day: Main Ceremony
15. It’s time to walk down the aisle
Now the bid moment has come, it’s time for you to be in the spotlight! You will now walk down the aisle after the bridesmaids, and before the flower girl and ring bearer, and the bride.
16. Arrange the bride’s train and veil
Once the bride is at the altar, you will have to make sure that her dress and veil look perfect. And if there is any adjustment needed, make it before the ceremony begins.
17. Hold the bride’s bouquet
You will be responsible for holding both your own and the bride’s bouquets all during the ceremony—especially when the two will exchange the rings. You can have someone from the bridal party to help you hold the bridal bouquet, as the bridal bouquet will be relatively heavy.
18. Hold the groom’s band
The maid of honor also holds the groom’s band until the two exchange their rings.
19. Sign the marriage license
Once the wedding ceremony is over, the officiant and the newlyweds will have to sign the marriage license. You know that two witnesses are required. More often than not, the maid of honor and best man sign the wedding license as witnessed.
Maid of Honor Duties on the Wedding Day: On the day of Reception
20. Stand next to the groom in the receiving line
Though, these days couples choose not to have receiving lines, but if there is any, the duty of the maid of honor is to stand next to the groom and greet guests while enter the reception hall or venue.
21. Enter the reception hall with the best man
If the emcee is introducing the wedding party members while they enter the reception, as the maid of honor you will make and entry with the best man. You can even make your entry unique!!
22. Help the bride use the restroom
Well, you will need to learn how to bustle the bride’s gown that too before the wedding itself. You can take help from her bridal salon or maybe with some quick tutorial, you can learn to bustle. Knowing that in advance will help keep her dress’ train clean and undisturbed while she will use restrooms. Also, if you need you can also delegate someone from the bridal party to help you with bustling bride’s gown.
23. Be a good host
Now again during the wedding reception also you may encounter some guests who will have queries related to wedding, such as about the cake cutting, related to guest book, about the sitting, maybe related to restrooms etc. Your duty during the reception will be to help them with all the answers they need.
24. Taking care of wedding gifts
Now at the reception guests will give their gifts directly to the couple, or maybe they will place them on the table. The duty of the maid of honor will be to make sure that all the gifts are kept or placed in a safe location. Also, if needed you can collect wedding gifts.
25. Transport the wedding gifts to right location
Well, for this you will need to know before the wedding, where exactly the couple want their gifts to be transported after the reception. You will have to make sure that the couple’s gifts are in the right hands and are transported to the correct location after the reception is over.
26. Give a toast after the best man
More often than not, the maid of honor gives a speech and that is given after the best man. The speech of the maid of honor will be relatively shorter, passing about the bride, and your love and respect for the couple. Make sure the speech comes from the heart, and not just words.
27. See the bride eats and drinks
As the maid of honor, it will be your duty at the reception to see the bride eats and drinks well. It should not happen that you got so busy that you forgot to see the bride eat and drink. Make sure that she eats and keep her water glass filled to help her stay hydrated.
28. Perform dance with the best man
Your duty as the maid of honor is not to just perform the duties, besides, one of the most important duties of yours is to have a great time and hit the dance floor with the best man. In fact you may have to spend a lot of time on the dance floor. Also, you will have to encourage others as well to dance and enjoy the party to the fullest.
29. See if everything is fine
As the maid of honor you will have to take care of almost everything related to the wedding and see that things are perfect, from making sure the bride’s wedding gown is properly stored to see the food arrangements at the reception. Besides, make sure you talk to the couple about any other duty that they’d want you to help finish.
30. See the bride and groom stays stress-free
If anything or any crisis situation happen during the reception, make sure that doesn’t let on to the bride and groom. Your primary job is to make sure that the bride and groom enjoy their reception to the fullest. If you and the bridal party are able to sort them out, take control of those nitty-gritty and let the couple enjoy.
Maid of Honor Duties on the Wedding Day: Post wedding
31. Help the couple during and post-honeymoon
Well, your duties continue even after the wedding is over. How you ask…… Definitely your help might be required when they head off on their honeymoon. For instance, if you live nearby, you can check in on their house in a while, take care of their dog when they are out for their honeymoon, fill in the stuff like groceries and other before they come back home. Likewise you can help them have a wonderful time on their honeymoon without getting to worry about their house or dog. This gesture of yours will help them know how important they are to you and you are there for them always.
